Best DIY Mom Gifts ideas, How to Surprise your Mum!

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Here are tons of unique DIY mom gift ideas perfect for Mother's Day, her birthday, for Christmas, or just because! These make great gifts for the mother figure in your life, we hope you enjoy!

Our favourite ever mom card revealed! (Ever EVER!) 👈🏻

No cost and lowest cost DIY mom gifts ideas 

1. DIY her a special explosion gift box 

There is nothing cooler! You could DIY one of these and fill it with tons of cute photos of you together, their favourite sweets, candy and snacks and lovely mementos, or even order one ready made if you are short on time. You could even create a theme with the coloured card and snacks that you choose, or just choose their favourites to tailor it perfectly to your recipient. 

 

Romantic heart shaped explosion box template 👈🏻

Multiple layers photos and candy box template 👈🏻

Romantic message photo surprise box template 👈🏻

The cutest way to gift something inexpensive, like candy or snacks, but make them look adorable and turn them into a whole gift on their own! This is a great low cost gift option that looks so exciting to receive!

Pink glamour themed exploding box (just add paper/card!) 👈🏻

Pink bow themed exploding gift box 👈🏻

Template for an exploding candy gift box (just add paper, photos candy!) 👈🏻

'Scrapbook' folding cards selection to make 👈🏻

2. DIY her a 3D photo collage heart 

This looks amazing and you can craft it from cardboard plus some pva or craft glue and some printed photos. Try crafting a 3D heart shape from cardboard, then papering it with your favourite photos to create a 3D collage that she can keep and treasure forever! 

3D model heart template 👈🏻

3. Make her a wreath with candies and cute photos 

Craft a paper wreath using the below template, then nestle in or pin some printed photos and cute candies and snacks for decoration, personalising it and tailoring it perfectly to your recipient's tastes, so cute. You could even make a wreath out of snacks arranged in a circular formation and attach some cute photos too for decor!

Wreath template (just add paper!) 👈🏻

4. DIY a heart shaped photo collage box 

This is similar to n.2, but your recipient will be able to use it to store things in. You could gift it with some wrapped candy inside and he can keep it afterwards and fill with bits and bobs - the perfect useful yet special gift for your mom or mum! 

Heart shaped box making template 👈🏻

5. Make her a macrame wall hanging with photos 

These are a super cute way to turn your favourite photos into a special keepsake for your loved one and something special they can hang in their space!   

Photo holder macrame wall hanging template 👈🏻

Ready made photo holder macrame wall hanging 👈🏻

Macrame photo wall hanging template 👈🏻

Ready made macrame photo wall hanging template 👈🏻

DIY macrame photo frame template guide 👈🏻

6. Create a special portrait from candy

This is such a fun and creative mom gift idea that she can also eat afterwards! To do this, find the photo you want to use, then use a photo editing tool or app to edit it - use an effect like 'Warhol' or 'Posterise' on Picmonkey to condense the amount of colours in the photo into a range of about 4-10 (depending on how many colours of candy you have!) to appear in a similar style to pop art portrait, think Andy Warhol! Then print and use as a template for the portrait. Try using some small sweets or candies like millions, nerds or even jelly beans for your creation.

7. DIY her a snack bouquet with photo flags 

A low cost gift of her favourites that looks so special to receive! Compile a bunch of snacks, treats and candy bars in bouquet formation, then craft some paper flags with special photos on and attach them to skewers, to then pop in the bouquet to decorate! 

8. Make her a candy and photos letter gift 

Why not put together a selection of their favourite sweets or snacks, along with cute photos of you together - you could even make them edible to go with the rest of the sweet snacks in the box! 

Letter or number gift box (the most affordable!) 👈🏻

9. Make her a selection of mug cake mixes 

This is such a fun and cute low cost - or no cost - gift idea they will love! Mug cakes are the perfect easy comforting dessert she will be able to make on a whim. Create some mug cake mixes (minus the milk or wet ingredient) in different flavours and colours and place each one in its own airtight container or zip lock sachet. 

Your recipient only needs to add the wet ingredient to the mixture and pop it in the microwave to create their mug cake! You could even include an adorable mug as part of the gift.

10. Bake her a special or funny bento cake 👈🏻

These are so cute! These mini scale cakes are perfect to gift your loved one and you can get so creative with the decor and message you choose to give, or even order ready made. 

11. A novelty shaped cupcake pullapart 

This looks amazing and is so much fun to eat! Simply arrange your plain cupcakes in a desired shape or formation - for example, a heart shape or the number representing their age - then ice them all together as one, creating one whole shape, like joining the dots. 

12. DIY her some custom chocolates 

You can have so much fun with this! Why not craft your own chocolates to make them perfectly match your recipient's tastes. You could make them heart shaped - or any novelty shape - and infuse them with popping candy and fun candy pieces.

13. Bake her a life size cookie face portrait 

Nothing is cooler or more special! You could even try to make it life size, it's such a funny and creative gift idea they are sure to love!

14. Bake them a letterbox brownie

This gift will never not be appreciated and makes for the loveliest surprise, plus it makes for the perfect long distance best friend gift idea as will fit through their letterbox! It's the perfect little pick me up gift you can make with ingredients in your cupboard and you only have to spend on postage!

Personalised message cookie slab 👈🏻

15. DIY a sugar cookie flower bouquet

A bouquet of sugar cookie flowers! Bake the sticks in to the cookies in the oven, then ice them to look like flowers and arrange them in a beautiful bouquet formation, tied with a ribbon! Alternatively arrange them in an adorable jar - or if you are short on time, why not opt for these adorable gift ready sugar cookie blooms! You can keep them in the jar as an adorable gift, or use them to create your sugar cookie flower bouquet - gift them a whole bouquet of edible flowers! 

Ready made jar of sugar cookie flowers 👈🏻

16. Bake her a huge cookie

Just like the giant 'Millie's Cookies' gifts that are all over social media, but it will mean so much more as you have made it yourself!

17. Paint her portrait 

You could even create a piece of beautiful line drawing style artwork, that looks modern and contemporary and super stylish! To do this, challenge yourself to draw her picture, using a photo of her as reference, without taking your pen off the paper! It might take a while to get in to the swing of it, but try to keep it as simple and minimalist as possible to create the effect. 

18. Make her a pet portrait

Create a beautiful portrait of their pet, a special gift they are sure to treasure always! You could use any medium or materials for this, opting for paint, magazine cutouts or even crafting it out of colourful sweets or candy!

19. Make a funny photoshopped picture 

Make them a funny photoshopped picture with all their favourite things, you could print, frame and set it in a place they have always dreamed of visiting! Add in all their favourite things and people - even fictional characters! You could stage them winning a nobel prize - in front of an audience of cats! This is such a unique and creative gift idea and they are sure to love it. You could print and frame the final result for them to keep safely in their room or space, it will be sure to make them smile whenever they see it! Picmonkey is amazing to use for this and is much easier than Photoshop to use! 

20. Write her a special poem or rap 

So creative and special, this is the funniest way to honour your recipient and make them smile and chuckle! 

21. Make a special scrapbook or book of memories for her 

All you need is some papers and a needle and thread to create the binding - you could even craft a pretty cover from free wallpaper or fabric samples you can find at DIY stores. For photos to put inside, you can get 50 free prints from apps such as Snapfish or Photobox. This is an adorable gift idea that is very low cost to make but she will treasure! 

22. A gift of macarons

There is nothing quite as special as a box of pretty macarons, they are such a beautiful and charming multisensory gift idea! You could bake some yourself, pertaining to a special theme for your recipient, or order some ready made if short on time.

23. A pretty box of hot chocolate bombs 👈🏻

These make beautiful and adorable gifts, plus are super low cost to make too! You could even decorate them however you like, to match any theme and experiment with different kinds of chocolate and fillings. You can even order these ready made if you are short on time

24. Bake her a pretty box of baked goods 

This is an especially amazing idea if your recipient is always hankering after your recent bakes; treat them with a whole box to themselves! 

25. Create some kusudama origami decor to hang in her space 

The most gorgeous home decor! It looks so beautiful and barely costs a thing - you only need some pretty patterned or coloured paper, or paper in her favourite colour! 

These are so beautiful and feature an assortment of origami shapes formed together to make a ball like shape. There are so many different beautiful designs to try - our favourite cherry blossom style kusudama guide is here! 

26. Make her a bouquet of realistic paper flowers 

You could even create a little booklet or language of flowers guide, so you recipient can decode the meaning behind each flower - you could code a special message for them! 

27. Make her some notebooks with pretty covers 

Or a beautiful diary! To do this, you will need some paper, scissors, glue and a needle and thread. Make the blank notebooks by folding the paper in half and stitching them together, down the middle, to create the binding. To create a beautiful cover, head to a DIY store or similar and see if they offer free wallpaper samples or fabric samples. This is an adorable no cost gift idea that she can treasure!  

More unique creative mom gifts ideas 

1. Bake her some cupcakes with funny photo edible toppers 👈🏻

The best ever gift idea that fuses cake with special memories! Your recipient will be able to treasure the special photos and eat them afterwards - the perfect gift that means you can bond over special memories with your recipient and treat them at the same time. This is also super low cost to put together! 

2. A gorgeous box of wax melts 👈🏻

They are presented beautifully like a box of chocolates and make the most luxurious and fun gift to open!

2. Wax melts scented like her favourite perfume

Or body products! These Lush scented wax melts are everything and she can pop them in her drawers to make everything smell amazing! You can even get Jo Malone scented wax melts and fabric softener scented wax melts, they are amazing and perfect to give as a gift.

3. Gift her a mystery jewellery candle 👈🏻

She'll get an extra surprise after the candle is all gone, as the wax melts it reveals a secret gift at the bottom of the candle! Such an amazing gift idea, a treat for her and the home! This is also something you can DIY yourself if you have the time, and you can customise it perfectly to her tastes.

4. A surprise message mug 👈🏻

This is such an amazing gift to give! You could present the gift with hot drink inside and wait until they finish it to reveal the surprise at the bottom of the mug. This would make the most perfect 'just because' gift or reveal gift idea for your mom or mum!

5. Gift her some adorable edible photo cookies  👈🏻

This is the best gift ever, the cutest surprise that will fit perfectly in the post too.

6. A personalised photo car freshener 👈🏻

These are absolutely brilliant and so affordable! You could personalise one with a hilarious photo or special memory for your recipient.

7. DIY her a set of beautiful magnets

You could use clay or fimo to make them and paint them yourself, then attach to magnet backings with some strong invisible glue. Arrange them in a beautiful box with tissue paper and voila!

8. A realistic chocolate gift

This makes such a cool, unique and thoughtful gift as you can show her how well you know her and her interests by choosing a realistic chocolate replica of an object that makes her happy - it could match her hobbies, her work, the things she loves and her personality - she'll be totally fooled at first but get the best surprise when she goes to use her new gift and realises it is made entirely out of chocolate!

Realistic chocolate 'biscuits' selection 👈🏻

Realistic chocolate 'cheese' selection 👈🏻

9. A funny sequin cushion of her favourite people 👈🏻

Everyone's got an idol, whether it is a character from The Office, a guilty pleasure boyband, a girl crush celebrity or even Nicholas Cage, celebrate the fandom and show how well you know her with a funny sequin cushion. It's a hilarious gift as, simply by changing the sequin direction, it's possible to create all manner of scary and funny facial expressions on the celebrity cushion! You could also personalise it with funny family photos to make something she will treasure and cherish always.

10. A cardboard cut out of her favourite person

Whether it's her favourite celeb or fictional character, this is such a fun surprise idea that will be sure to make her laugh!

11. Bake her some hilarious personalised sugar cookies 👈🏻

This is possibly the coolest thing ever! A cookie cutter that you can personalise with your recipient's face, based on a photo of them! You can now make sugar cookies of your recipient, perfect for their birthday and sure to amaze them and make them laugh in equal parts, so perfect!    

12. A pet themed gift

There is nothing more special than a gift from their pet! This could be a beautiful framed photo portrait of their pet (a super affordable gift!), a life size biscuit or cookie decorated to look just like their pet (you could DIY this yourself!) or a gift featuring their pet's paw print. You could even gift her a pair of matching sweaters for her and her dog!

13. Gift her a five senses gift

These make some of the most special and memorable gifts, plus you can get super creative with them!

14. Try a special message plate surprise

This is such a good trick! Arrange for your mum to go out and only come back at tea time, when you'll have a meal prepared for both of you. Then get your hands on some plain white plates and some plate decorating pens or paint - even the kinds kids often use to decorate a plate for Grandma. You can create a really cute design - and then be sure to follow the instructions to let the paint or ink set - it is often recommended to pop in the oven for a certain time. Once it is completely dry, you can set about preparing the meal and dish it out on to the newly decorated plate. You could even cleverly cover each section of the plate with a different food - just make sure every bit is covered with food so that it looks like an every day white dinner plate. Wait til your recipient starts eating to reveal the cute surprise! You get to keep the memory and relive it every time you use the plate for a meal! It's such a cute surprise idea and you can get really creative with the design and message you choose to give.

15. Set up a home movies night

Why not create an indoor 'drive thru' set up to show home movies! Watching home movies and videos together is a wonderful way to celebrate her birthday and will be bound to result in hilarity and smiles all round! The drive thru element brings a retro feel, ten points if you also have popcorn, milkshakes and delicious snacks on hand!

16. A Lotus Biscoff scented candle 👈🏻

There are no words for how amazing this is! Definitely a must have for any Biscoff fan or lover.

17. Put together a 'sip and paint' box for her 👈🏻

This is a super unique and creative gift idea that is perfect for her 60th. You could fill it with her favourites, plus some art materials, or even order one ready made if short on time!

18. Matching outfits for her and her pet

This gift idea is perfect for a pet lover, you could opt for matching jumpers or even cute matching costumes they can wear for Halloween! You could also DIY this gift idea if you are handy at knitting, it's bound to be a gift they will never forget!

19. A birth flower jewellery gift 👈🏻

This is such a creative, thoughtful and special gift idea for your mum or mom, these are so stunning and something she'll treasure always.

Flower Petal Resin Pendants (SO Stunning!) 👈🏻

20. A perfume sample set

A set of mini perfumes makes for the perfect gift as it means she can try out a whole new range of scents - there is nothing like the gift of novelty and giving someone a chance to try new things.

21. A heat transforming mug 👈🏻

A mug is an oldie but a goodie! Even better, a heat transforming mug means your recipient will get an extra surprise when they go to make a hot drink in their new mug!

22. DIY her a flip book from a special video 

To make this, take a special short video of you both - or choose a video that shares a happy memory! You could even crop your favourite moment from a longer video. Then convert it into still photos and print (you could write next to each snap a number before printing, so you can be sure of the order). Then cut out the stills, placing each in order as you go (you could even write the number for each on the back of each one). 

Then create the binding! You could either use a clip as illustrated, or for a more permanent binding solution for your keepsake, hole punch the stills on the left side and use a small amount of string to tie the pages together. You could even create an outer cover for the binding, using paper or card.   

Make a ready to print flip book for him 👈🏻

23. Rose quartz coasters

Coasters make amazing practical gifts and rose quartz ones bring such a feeling of opulence and glamour to the home, as well as carrying special and calming meanings and energies.

Heart shaped rose quartz coasters 👈🏻

Stylish rough edge rose quartz coasters 👈🏻

24. A chocolate room spray 👈🏻

There is nothing better than making your home smell like chocolate!

25. A bluetooth iphone printer

This is such a special gift as it will allow her to print all her favourite memories quickly and easily, there's nothing like being able to hold your memories as physical items.

26. A photo album

You could design it yourself or even order a blank one to decorate by hand as a wonderful DIY gift to your mom or mum, also perfect to accompany the bluetooth printer gift idea!

27. Cosy and fluffy socks

Always a win win gift! Cosy and fluffy socks make the best gift to receive and are a practical gift as well as a sweet and thoughtful one!

28. A silk pillowcase

Always a luxurious gift to receive, this will make such a special gift that is super practical too!

29. A silk sleepmask

Another luxurious looking but super practical gift that is surprisingly affordable and will be sure to delight your recipient!

30. A game to play

Give her the gift of an opportunity to bond with all the family, one of the best mom gifts of all!

31. A custom embroidered hoop hanging 👈🏻

Home decor gifts are always an adorable idea, especially personalised ones for your loved ones! You can find kits such as this to complete as a special and unique gift for the mother figure in your life.

32. A pamper box

You can get super creative with this gift idea and show how well you know your recipient by perfectly tailoring it to her! 

33. A star sign gift

Such a special and thoughtful gift idea that specially caters to her star sign - she will love this if she's in to astrology and horoscopes!

34. A box of macarons

There's something so luxurious about a box of macarons, they make such a beautiful multisensory gift as are as beautiful on the eyes as they are on the tastebuds.

35. A 'sleep well' box

Full of items to help her to unwind and sleep well at night! This is something everyone will appreciate, especially moms, mums, dads and parents in general, as they probably have some sleep to catch up on! You could fill it with a pillow mist, facial spray, dreamy crystals and gemstones, a relaxing diffuser or candle and a dreamy bath and body care set.

36. An assortment of lots of different types of tea

For her to try! These gifts are always so special as it means giving them the gift of trying something new, you might just introduce her to her all new favourite kind of tea. This gift is the most perfect thing ever for tea lovers!

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